There are certain things one always associates with living in the country. These make up part of the nostalgic ideal that every person entertains when they are cooped up in a city apartment with a grey concrete walk to a monotonous job. I know because I dreamed about these things for the years I lived in the city.
Firstly, chickens. I love the thought of walking through the dewy grass down to the nesting coop to collect fresh eggs for breakfast.
Secondly, wood-burning fireplaces. Not silly shallow, coal-burning fireplaces like you get in the fancy city houses but big, deep hungry black holes of fireplaces that gobble wood and pump out real flames and heat. The kind you can put a pot on and make a stew. The kind you have to have a wood pile against the side of your house to keep alive.
Thirdly, and this is where I will pause, kittens. Real live freshly-born kittens, perhaps in a woollens drawer or in a blanket-filled box under the kitchen table. It has always been a dream of mine to wake up to a litter of kittens with their mewling, wriggling tight-eyed cuteness.
I am pausing here because, believe it or not, we now live in a country house. We do not have chickens because we have a dog that would eat them. But we do have a cat who is now pregnant.
Oh the joy! And slight panic, when I realised that there was probably more to having kittens born in your house than sweety, cutey fluffiness. My daughter and I have pledged to do some "research" together on Google tonight. She is seven, and has just discovered "research". She is very excited about the world of information that has suddenly opened up.
I thought I would share all of this for those of you have always had closet fantasies about woollen-drawer kitten births, but never had the opportunity to witness the reality of it. My Kitten Tales posts will document the progress of our adventure. I hope you, and your children, enjoy watching the story unfold!
You will be excited to know that you won't have long to wait! The vet has announced that the event could occur within a fortnight. So keep an close eye here to see how things proceed. If you don't want to miss an instalment, subscribe here to the posts!
An introduction, then, is necessary. This is Annie our mum-to-be, a $10 daughter of a stray. We think she is beautiful. (PS We think the dad is a ginger tom, who was found on our upstairs landing while we were away on holiday. It seems Annie had had a house guest).
